Ballyvolane 2 - Archie, Noodle and Wriggle

One of the loveliest things aboout Ballyvolane Houose - and as you'll have gathered, there was a lot about Ballyvolane that was wonderful - but one of the nicest things was just how friendly everyone was. There were Jenny and Justin, the owners and hosts, there was Justin's father who managed the garden, the chef who we only met on our arrival and I'm afraid never found out her name - but she was an excellent cook!


And there were the animals. Archie, Noodle and Wriggle who all seemed to have been specially trained or had decided to join in on welcoming guests to their home and making sure we were comfortable and happy.



Archie was described as the largest cat in County Cork. I live with a big cat - and Archie was bigger! He also had the most magnificent set of whiskers and a purr that could be heard all over the house. Archie was normally found in his very special spot in the front parlour (you can see him there on Anne McAllister's blog) but when he discovered that we had the log fire burning in the sitting room, and perhaps a smackeral or two of cheese, then Archie graciously condescended to join us - and to hoover up any bits of cheese that happened to drop his way. He also was very partial to my pashmina - perhaps because he could scent that Sid had been lying on it. Certainly he gave it a very good sniffing before settling down to sleep on it.


Then there was Noodle the terrier. Noodle was described by Justin as being a JLo of terriers - specially when she had just had a bath and her fur was beautifully clean and silky. The problem is that I never actually got a photo of Noodle that really shows her face - or perhaps it's because her long sillky fringe hid where her face should be and so most of the time all you saw of Noodle was a bundle of fur - and sometimes you couldn't quite be sure which way she was actually facing. Except for breakfast time - at breakfast, Noodle would join us and sit under the table and on those occasions you could always be sure which was she was facing - towards the food.


Finally there was the delightful Wriggle. Wriggle was part chocolate lab and part Springer spaniel. She had a Irish Setter look about her but was small and compact - and a real delight. One of Wriggle's duties was obviously to show everyone around - her guided tour of the house and grounds was so enjoyable that we wished there had been a little less rain so that we could do it all over again. You can see a detailed report of this tour on Anne's blog - with lots of pictures of Wriggle herself. The only thing that's missing is a photo of Anne with Wriggle - so I shall amend that.

Because Anne and Wriggle bonded. Wriggle would endear herself to anyone but Anne was missing her own dogs so Wriggle very graciously agreed to fill in for Gunnar, Mitch and Micah so that Anne would not feel at all homesick - and it worked. So much so that everyone settled in and felt right at home. And when the time came to leave, no one wanted to go. But Wriggle and Noodle were the perfect hostesses right to the end and they came to see us off with a wave of each tail and a 'come back soon' woof. Archie stayed right where he was - in his special snoozing spot, but it had started to rain again, and he sent a farewell purr after us to wish us well.


So that was Ireland - and it was wonderful. Now I need to get back to work and as I have a new book out in March (April in USA and Australia) I'll be blogging about that soon. And about the new Spanish hero who will be absorbing my days for the next few weeks. (Very few my editor hopes!)


Which reminds me that I should also mention what I read on my holidays. Well there was the RITA book I was judging, which I can't talk about, just as as I haven't been able to mention all the others I read for this contest recently. But remember this post - a Great Day for Romance? Well I was lucky enough to be given two hot from the press signed copies of the first books in Day Leclaire's brand new Royals Trilogy for Silhouette Desire. Thank you Day! Anne McAllister brought them to Ireland for me and so I was able to have an extra holiday treat by reading them when the rain was just too bad to leave the fireside. I loved them. The Forbidden Princess and The Prince's Mistress were everything I remember a Day Leclaire book to be - wonderful heroes. bright sparky heroines and that magical fairytale element that kept me hooked right from the start. The flight back to England passed in the blink of an eye as I became absorbed in the story of Lander and Juliana in the second book - so much so that I didn't even have to grab the BM's hand for take off - the part of the flight I usually like least.


And now I'm intrigued. Because The Royal Wedding Night, the third in this trilogy, features as its hero Brandt von Folke, a character who appears in The Forbidden Princess - in a somewhat less than heroic light. I can't wait to see just how Day turns this story round to make Brandt into the hero he's meant to be.


When did you say that the third book was out, Day? Do I really have to wait till April? And then there's Joc Arnaud, the fascinating character I met in The Prince's Mistress - his story is coming but not until September . . . . Can you tell that I'm addicted? Now I know why I missed Day's 'voice' so much.

Welcome back Day!




So now I have to get down to work - but I'll leave you with one more image of Ballyvolane House. This time it's the view from my bedroom window. Imagine waking up to this everyday? Nothing more to be said really except that, as Anne said in her comments on yesterday's post - I want to go back!

Ballyvolane - a B B & B

Anne McAllister who started her report on the Ireland trip back to front – beginning with the ending - has already blogged about Ballyvolane in great detail. We agreed things this way because after all, Ballyvolane was her place – the major research she needed to do for her book. She was looking for a draughty castle – what she found was Ballyvolane House - and it fitted her requirements perfectly. So if you want to read more about this lovely place than check out her blog as well.

But when I think of Ballyvolane what comes into my mind – apart from the log fires and the wonderful rooms andthe soft cushions, the antiques and the bookshelves crammed with books and the polished wood flooring, and the grounds . . . (sorry I slipped back into memory time there) - what I remember is the fact that most places that take paying guests can label themselves a B&B – bed and breakfast – Ballyvolane , at least for me and the BM was very definitely a Bed and Breakfast and Bath.

Our room had en suite facilities – the usual extra room containing the toilet, sink and the bath. No – make that The Bath. What a bath! It was huge – definitely big enough for two to share companionably – maybe even three if you were really friendly. And it was a Bath of State. So big and deep that you had to go up two polished wooden steps to get into it. It had huge brass taps that worked on levers to turn them on and it must definitely date back to the time when the owners of the house had maids or a ‘gentleman’s gentleman’ to help them get ready for the day. This bath was so deep that you needed to turn on (or rather, lever on) the taps and then go away and drink a mug of tea or perhaps some homemade blackcurrant or elderflower cordial (both of which were provided in the room, together with fresh, pure well water to dilute them) while you waited for it to fill up.

And then there was The Bed. And as you might have expected from the size of The Bath, The Bed was pretty substantial too. The Bed was more than big enough to sleep three – even four quite comfortably. Not being into writing books about threesomes , or even foursomes, what my romance writer’s mind kept thinking was of the way that, after an argument or on that so familiar, ‘forced to sleep in the same room and there’s only one bed’ scenario it would be completely possible for the hero and heroine in a story to sleep in this bed and still stay miles apart – they would have to make a real effort to come together and if they wanted to they wouldn’t have to touch each other at all through the night. They might just as well be in separate single beds.

But then, of course, The Bed had wooden cherubs, and a carved love knot fixed on the wall around the headboard so maybe they would help to bring about the required reconciliation and bridge the gap so that The Bed could become a real love nest.

So that’s the Bed and the Bath – what about the Breakfast bit? Well, as you’d expect the Breakfasts at Ballyvolane were substantial – Full Irish Breakfast was provided in the dining room, at whatever time we wanted it. You could have eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms,

tomatoes, black pudding or white pudding . . . Being veggie I passed on most of that but the poached eggs and mushrooms were pretty good. There was fruit and yoghurt, cereals, toast and on the toast you could have Irish butter, honey, homemade raspberry, strawberry or blackcurrant jam . . .tea or coffee . . . And the toast was either home baked white or, one of my most absolute total favourite things in all Irish food – home baked Wholemeal Soda Bread. My mother used to make this for us when my sisters and I were children and I've been addicted ever since.

It was no wonder that we had breakfast - and then didn’t eat for most of the rest of the day. A couple of times we went out to nearby towns and ate in wonderful small restaurants or a local inn

– but even that was late on because Justin and Jenny provided afternoon tea as well – huge trays with great pots of loose leaf tea and cake – home made fruit cake or chocolate brownies – or, my favourite, the lemon cake. All eaten while sitting round the huge log fire while (on one day at least) the rain lashed down outside. Perfect.

As you can see, a lot of Ballyvolane was of large proportions – the rooms, the bath, the meals . . . so were the Grounds and The Cat – but I have a book to write and a Spaniard who’s impatient at being kept waiting for my attention. So I’ll come back to those tomorrow.

But just in case you'd like to try it, I thought I'd include the recipe for that wonderful soda bread - I may even make some for myself later today (if the Spaniard cooperates)

Ballyvolane House Brown Soda Bread(Makes 2 Loaves)
1 1/2 lbs. wholemeal flour1 handful wheat bran2 handfuls wheat germ2 1/4 lbs. pinhead oatmeal (aka chunky-grade)2 tsp. salt2 tsp. sieved baking soda1 liter buttermilk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bread tins with butter. Mix dry ingredients well. Add buttermilk and stir until mixed thoroughly with the dry ingredients. Divide mixture into 2 bread tins and sprinkle with a little additional pinhead oatmeal. Bake for 1 hour on oven upper shelf.

Enjoy!